Expansion to nearly triple size of Rock’N River

The Rock’N River Family Aquatic Center is set to almost triple in size and capacity with an expansion project that broke ground early this summer.

Rock ’N River was originally constructed in 2006 and opened in 2007. The current capacity of the park is about 6,000 attendees, said Rick Atkins, Parks and Recreation director. After the expansion is complete, the new capacity will be around 16,000, he said.

New additions to the park will include a large interactive play area with slides, a tipping bucket to pour water on guests, a rock climbing wall and a dive platform with a deep water lagoon.

“It’s going to be a much bigger and much more amenity-friendly facility for our users,” Atkins said.

The current play area holds about 40 visitors at a time, Atkins said. The new “sprayground” play unit will be approximately 6,650 square feet and will hold about 550 guests, according to the conceptual design.

This unit alone almost doubles the capacity of Rock’N River, the design states. There will be water jets, water curtains, water guns, slides and net obstacles.

The expansion will also feature an adult lagoon area with a swim-up refreshment section.

Seating areas, party pavilions, shade structures and other features will make the park more hospitable to guests, Atkins said.

There will be 13 covered swim-up seats in the lagoon area with audio and visual connections for music and TVs as well as lighting for evening use, according to the conceptual design.

A food truck vending area will also be created in the expansion.

Plans met with enthusiasm

Brianna Bishop, Round Rock resident, brought her six children to Rock’N River on Tuesday to enjoy some family time.

Bishop said she has seen the expansion plans and is excited for the new adult area as well as the additional kids’ area.

“I think it’s very much needed because the waterpark is very full all the time. There’s a lot of kids, so it definitely needs more space,” Bishop said. “I think it’ll just be really nice for everybody.”

Bishop bought a family season pass this summer because the park has the “best value,” she said.

“To go to other water parks, it would cost my family over $100 for just one visit,” Bishop said. “We love it here.”

Robert Smith, Georgetown resident, was lounging in a chair poolside watching his son play in the water.

“During the week it’s not as crowded, you can have a good time, but the weekend sometimes it’s almost a little too crowded and shoulder to shoulder,” Smith said.

Park to remain open during work

Construction crews broke ground in early May, Atkins said. The estimated completion date of the project is May 2016, he said.

“We’ve got it under construction and as long as we keep some good sunny days to keep this project going, the plan is to definitely have it open next year,” Atkins said.

The park will remain open throughout the summer despite construction, he said.

Crews began working on the outer boundaries of the park and will tie everything together with the existing pool complex at the end of the season, Atkins said.

Wind screens are in place to keep dust away from pool visitors and crews will wet the dirt down to keep the area clean, he said.

“We really haven’t had to do a lot because it rained, but the job is to definitely keep it open for the public to utilize this summer,” Atkins said.

Parents and children did not seem to mind the bulldozers digging into the dirt right outside the fences lined with black screens for their protection as they played in the water, screaming and laughing.

There are some spots where chairs lined the poolside toward the edge of the park where Smith could hear the bulldozers behind him, he said. But after moving chairs down a little, guests were not bothered, he said.

“I think [the expansion is] great for the Round Rock community and I think it’ll just be a bigger draw for even people outside the area,” Smith said.

Revenue expected to triple

In a 95-day swim season, about 70,000 or more people visit Rock’N River, Atkins said. The number of visitors depends on when school starts and ends, he said.

After the facility expands, the number of visitors during the summer will most likely double to about 140,000 or 150,000 people, Atkins said.

“We think the [current] facility – we definitely had some space limitations. When you talk about 6,000 people being capacity, we definitely reached that early in the mornings and then had lines of people waiting,” Atkins said. “The expansion gives us the ability to make sure we handle a much larger volume and it’s also going to provide more amenities.”

The original pool was more “youth focused,” but the new additions will go after the teen market as well as allow adults who accompany their children to the pool to enjoy their own area, he said.

The revenue brought in from Rock’N River goes into the city’s general fund, Atkins said. The amount fluctuates each year but, at its current fee structure, the facility brings in about $300,000 per year.

After the expansion, the park will make about an estimated $900,000 to $1 million a year, he said.

“I just think it’s going to be an exciting project for the community as well as Old Settlers Park,” Atkins said. “And it’s going to make it a nice destination and a place to go that’s going to be affordable for the community.”

The project is estimated to cost $6.7 million, according to expansion plans. Chasco Constructors, a Round Rock-based construction management firm, is working on the project.

The project team is now finalizing color schemes and details of the additions, Atkins said.